Quit it! From vaping to doomscrolling, 10 bad habits and how to break them

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‘Bad habits are a great dulled-consciousness' exploiter’, wrote Samuel Beckett. And he didn’t even have fruit-flavoured vaping pens and mindless phone scrolling to contend with. Most of us have at least a few behaviours we wish to alter, but how can you shatter the ingrained habits of a lifetime? We asked the experts …

Spending too much time on your mobile.

From scrolling on the loo to taking your phone to bed, 41% of us feel that we're spending too much time on our devices. Hilda Burke, a psychotherapist and the author of The Phone Addiction Workbook, suggests creating a "motivating screensaver" – a visual reminder of what you really want to be doing with the hours that you're wasting on your phone. It could be a photograph of your pet, your children or a quote that gives you the motivation you need.

“Visual cues have a massive impact, particularly when we are regularly exposed to them. A typical smartphone user checks their device every 12 minutes, which is why a positive visual cue can be an advantage, according to Burke. She recommends disabling notifications, opting out of group chats and setting aside short periods each day to turn off your phone or leave it at home.”

Guides you through a short breathing exercise each time you try to open a specific "danger app", which might be all you need to stop checking Instagram again.

Unhealthy snacking

We all know that snacking on unhealthy foods between meals isn’t ideal, but there are ways to curb your hunger without turning to Ozempic. Alex Ruani is a researcher in nutrition science at University College London and a “recovering snacker” herself.

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As well as making an effort to eat fibre-rich foods that help keep you feeling fuller for longer (such as vegetables, fruit, wholemeal cereals and breads, pulses and nuts), Ruani also recommends swapping the foods with the qualities you're craving with healthier alternatives. "You might be hankering after a biscuit, but have a chocolate rice cake instead."

Vaping

There's no time like the present to break free from that sweet minty dummy. “Many individuals start vaping in an attempt to quit smoking, but discover that vapes can be just as difficult – and in some cases, even more difficult – to give up,” states Sophia Papadakis from the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training. “We recommend that our clients gradually reduce the nicotine content of the e-liquid in their vapes over two to four-week stages, working down to 0%.”

Papadakis suggests incrementing the time interval between smoking (from 20 minutes to 40 minutes, for example) and establishing rules for yourself about where you do and don't vape to "break the association between vaping and certain situations, such as nights out".

Online shopping

Before buying something new, have a look through your own wardrobe," says Tatiana de Normann, a stylist nicknamed "the personal anti-shopper". "Take stock of what you already have and put together some outfits. This way, you can avoid last-minute impulse buys.

De Normann advises her clients to put items in their online basket for at least a few days. “Most people will either forget about them or come back and decide they don't really need them,” she says. Unsubscribing from retailers' emails, deleting shopping apps and removing your card details can all help to act as "speed bumps" to slow down online shopping impulses.

Drinking too much

“Moderate drinking can be even more difficult than complete abstinence because it demands greater decision-making,” says Rosamund Dean, author of Mindful Drinking: How Reducing Your Consumption Can Improve Your Life. “You will have to ask yourself ‘Am I going to drink today? How much?’. So, to make life simpler create some guidelines: for example, no more than three drinking days a week, and no more than three drinks in a single session.”

It's a great idea to plan ahead when deciding what drink to have, especially if you're limiting yourself to no alcohol. Take a look at a venue's selection of non-alcoholic drinks beforehand, so you know what options you like the sound of - it might be a kombucha or a mocktail, for example. If you're attending a social gathering at someone's home, consider bringing along a drink of your own that you enjoy.

If everything else doesn't work and that fourth pint is calling, Dean suggests having your "why" at the forefront of your mind: "Whether it's an increase in energy, improved concentration, better skin, fewer regrets, reduced anxiety, more restful sleep, a stronger immune system or a decreased risk of cancer, reminding yourself of the reasons you're drinking less can really help."

Biting your nails

Around 20 to 30% of us bite our nails, with children and youngsters being most at risk of developing onychophagia. "Our hands are always with us, so stopping nail biting is really difficult," says Dr Martha Collado, clinical psychologist and author of How to Be the Grown-Up.

Collado recommends becoming aware of your triggers, such as feeling bored or anxious, and identifying your vulnerability times, such as when you're doing something unengaging like watching TV or scrolling through your phone. "Then find a behaviour to replace the nail biting. For example, if it's boredom you might create a list of activities which could shift your focus, such as filing your nails or massaging your hands. If it's anxiety, perhaps it's a breathing exercise."

Not getting enough sleep

"We still take a very haphazard approach to sleep and view it as something to fit around when all our other commitments for the day are out of the way," says Nick Littlehales, a sleep coach who trains elite athletes, including footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

A good night's sleep begins before bedtime. It starts with waking up at the same time each day, getting lots of daylight, and taking short, 20-minute breaks throughout the day where you're alone with your thoughts – perhaps meditating, napping, or simply taking a break.

Littlehales says some customers find it beneficial to set an alarm to remind them to initiate their bedtime routine. “Ninety minutes prior to going to sleep, start winding down from your daily tasks. Move to a room that's cooler than your normal body temperature, and reduce the light levels.”

Procrastinating

The old saying goes "never do tomorrow what you can do today". Yet, that super-important task constantly seems to linger at the bottom of your to-do list. "There is a misconception that procrastination is poor time management or laziness, but it stems from a desire to avoid tough emotions such as boredom, frustration, anxiety or overwhelm," notes Collado.

“Chronic procrastinators often have perfectionism in common, an all-or-nothing mentality that puts a block on starting a task. Rather than focusing on the "ideal" time to complete the work, setting "ideal" circumstances and doing it "flawlessly", just schedule a time and date in your diary, and get on with it. It may not be perfect, but finishing it will bring a sense of liberation from stress and overwhelm, and that can give you the motivation to tackle another task – and procrastinate less.”

Collado suggests that thinking about what you'll gain from completing a task can help counterbalance the temporary drawback of how tedious or time-consuming it is. And if you do put things off, don't give yourself a hard time about it - research has shown that students who were able to forgive themselves for procrastinating when studying for their first exam were likely to procrastinate less for their next one.

Exercising inconsistently

People place far too much stress on themselves to exercise," says personal trainer Nick Finney. "They think 'I'm not feeling up to it today' and decide not to go, but even 20 minutes of stretching is preferable to nothing. You don't need to push yourself to the extreme, you just need to keep attending.

According to Finney, another major obstacle to exercise is people believing they don't have enough time. Finney's solution is to multitask. He says, "On busy days I will spend 30 minutes walking on a treadmill or cycling gently on an exercise bike while I do my admin or respond to emails." Setting achievable daily targets, such as a manageable daily step count, might also motivate you on days when motivation is hard to find.

“Having high expectations and hoping for rapid results just leads to disappointment,” says Finney. “Set realistic goals for weight loss or fitness and make sure the exercise you choose is something you genuinely enjoy. No one will persuade themselves to stick with a gruelling boot camp that they absolutely loathe.”

Always cancelling

“Are you over committing and saying yes to too many things because you have a tendency to want to please others? Do you place so much importance on not missing out that you struggle to turn down invitations? Or perhaps you're feeling anxious in social situations and need some advice on how to manage these emotions?”

Mathur advises that once the source of the problem is identified, it can be addressed. "It's also essential to consider your week as a whole," she says, "and if you have plans ahead, ensure you won't be in need of rest when they take place." It's often the case that we exhaust ourselves with thousands of small online social interactions and waste our social energy by not allocating it to meaningful interactions with people we feel revitalised by engaging with.